creation - the evidence says yes!njbiblescience.org/presentations/creation - the evidence says...

Creation – the Evidence says Yes!

The scientific evidence points to

creation, not evolution

Jason D. BrowningJune 13, 2008

Browning - 2008 NJBibleScience.org 2

How we got here and why are we here are the most fundamental of questions

The answer to these questions affects how we think about the world, our “world-view”

Creation is a God-based world-view, evolution is not

The truth about origins is not being taught

The possibility of special creation being true is disallowed in the public and scientific marketplace, leading to atheistic thinking

Why is This Subject Important?


World-view Implications

Creation: man is special, different from animals; put here for a purpose; God is in control

Evolution: man is nothing special, just an advanced animal; man is an “accident” of nature; man is in control

What are the “fruits” of an evolutionary world-view?

Cheapening of human life

Unwarranted elevation of animal life

Why shouldn’t men act like animals?


There is no Middle Ground!

Reality consists either of:

No God

Then a process like evolution must have occurred

Materialism (only material things are real) /

naturalism (nature is all there is) is reality

There is a God

Then explaining the universe and life as the work

of God is reasonable and expected

Both the natural and supernatural are real


Views on Origins

Secular Science

Evolution – No need for God

Intelligent Design

There is a designer (unspecified)

Old-Earth Creationism

The designer is the God of the Bible

Young-Earth Creationism

The history of the Bible is true


The “Theory of Evolution”

The “Theory of Evolution” as outlined by

Darwin applies to living organisms

“Neo-Darwinism” updates Darwin with

genetics

Mutations supply the new raw material

Natural selection retains the mutations which

provide a reproductive advantage

All life (plant and animal) has derived from a

common ancestor


Evolutionary Stages

Dead chemicals

First life

Invertebrates (no backbone)

Vertebrates (backbone)

Amphibians

Reptiles

Birds

Mammals

Primates

Man

Abiogenesis


“Evolution” - Proved or Not?

The word “evolution” is used in different

ways - one true, the others not

“Variation” - the adaptation of populations

through natural selection is well-proven

Frequently called “micro-evolution”, but this is a

misnomer as no “upward evolution” is taking place -

no increase in complexity/information is being

generated

Illustrates good design (like bridge expansion joints)

“Macro-evolution” - change beyond the

species level, is “a research topic”

Galapagos finches demonstrate variation, not evolution – they are all finches and can inter-breed


Peppered Moth “Evolution”

Study took place in industrial England (1800’s)

Start with mostly light-colored moths, a few dark Light moths hidden on light trees, dark eaten

Industrial pollution turns trees dark Now dark moths hidden, light eaten

Population shifted from mostly white to mostly dark

Start with moths, end with moths!

If trees had turned blue from polluting dye, would blue moths have developed?

Natural selection here, but no evolution!


Peppered Moths


What is True?

Natural Selection - YES

Subatomic particles to people - NO

Unguided “Big Bang” to the earth - NO

Life from non-life - NO

Simple life to higher order life - NO

Apes to men - NO

Textbook examples of “evolution in action”

are illustrating natural selection only!


Comparing WorldviewsCreation-Christianity Evolution - Naturalism

God There is a God who is personal,

eternal, exists outside of time

There is no God

(nature is all there is)

The Universe Created by God Appeared from nothing

through a “quantum

fluctuation”

People Created in the image of God A cosmic accident –

the result of evolution

Spiritual world Is real, Satan is the leader of the

fallen angels

Religion is a myth made up

by man

Who is in control? God Man

Moral laws Ten Commandments –

absolute, unchanging

Determined by man, can

be changed by man

Your future Heaven or Hell No life after death


Interpretation of Scientific Data

Assumption of

Evolution

Assumption of

Creation

Scientific Data

Evolution is

Seen

Creation is

Seen

Interpretation is influenced by assumptions and biases


Grand Canyon: Evidence forA) Evolution over long ages, or B) Noah’s flood?


Evolution BaseballAn Impossible Game to Win!

Thermodynamics

InformationSpontaneous

Generation

Fossil Record

Hydrogen GasPeople

1B

2B

3B

?


Second Law of Thermodynamics

Over time, left to themselves, things go

from being ordered to unordered, they tend

to mix together

Hot and cold mix to

become warm

Buildings fall down when

neglected

Your room becomes

messier if you don’t clean

it up!


Time’s Arrow

Time

Information

Second

Law of

Thermodynamics

Evolution

Evolution runs contrary to “Time’s Arrow” - we know from the Second

Law of Thermodynamics that the universe is “running down”, yet

evolution postulates just the opposite!



Thermodynamics


Generation

Fossil Record

Hydrogen GasPeople

1B

2B

3B

?


The Origin of Life

The creation of life is tremendously complex:

Requires both

DNA (the plan) and

RNA (the copy mechanism)

at the same time

The average protein consists of a chain of 300-500

amino acids (of which there are 20 kinds). The

odds of the spontaneous formation of a working

protein is zero.

For example, odds of getting just 200 amino acids in

correct order by chance = 1 in 20**200 = 1 in 10**260

There are only 10** 80 atoms in the whole universe!


The Cell:Many Complex Parts Working Together

From “Origin of Life”, Bliss,

Parker, Gish, Page 36


Laboratory Experiments

Laboratory experiments to demonstrate

evolution have failed:

Fruit-fly experiments (artificially mutating fruit

flies over many generations) have failed to

produce anything other than a fruit fly

All attempts to create life from chemicals have

failed


Stanley Miller Experiment

Conducted in the 1950’s

Produced a few amino acids

(low-level building blocks of

life)

Does not demonstrate how life

might have begun naturally:

Not all amino acids produced,

nor sugars, purines, etc.

Both left and right handed

forms produced

No macromolecules produced

(e.g. proteins, DNA, RNA)

Artificial trap

Also produced molecules

destructive to life

From “Origin of Life”,

Bliss, Parker, Gish,

Page 14


The Creation of Man (Day 6)

So God created man in his own image, in

the image of God he created him.

And the LORD God formed man from the

dust of the ground and breathed into his

nostrils the breath of life, and man

became a living being.Genesis 1:27, 2:7


The Formation of Eve (Later on Day 6)

So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man.

Genesis 2:21-22


Everyone alive today is

descended from Adam and Eve.

The life that God breathed into

Adam has flowed through every

generation all the way down to you!



Thermodynamics


Generation

Fossil Record

Hydrogen GasPeople

1B

2B

3B

?


What is Information?

Information = knowledge or instructions;

a blueprint

The more complex something is, the more

information it contains

More words are needed to describe it

Longer instructions are needed to build it

The information for how to build, operate,

and repair life is coded in the DNA


Information is a Mental Concept

The information content in this PowerPoint

presentation is the same whether it is on a computer

hard-drive, a CD, seen projected on a screen, printed as a

hardcopy, or read to you

We must not confuse the physical representation of information with the information itself!


The DNA is NOT the Information

The DNA of life houses information BUT IS

NOT THE INFORMATION ITSELF!

Modifying the physical housing (mutating the

DNA) can never create new information!

The information of life originated from the

mind of God


Evolutionary vs. Creation

Views of Information

Evolutionary View Creation View

No information

Much information

Gradual increaseover timewith nointelligence(via mutation)

Much informationin eachcreated kind frommind of God

Degradation over time dueto the fall(build up of mutations)

Kind diversifies into species due to environmental differences expressing different subsets of existing information

First Life

Note: mutation / natural selectiononly operates after the first replicatinglife form exists

Species 1

Species 2


Can New Information Originate

Through Mutations?

Gitt: “This idea is central in representations

of evolution, but mutations can only cause

changes in existing information. There can be

no increase in information , and in general

the results are injurious. New blueprints for

new functions or new organs cannot arise;

mutations cannot be the source of new

(creative) information.”


Conclusions About Information

Information is not a physical property

Information is always the result of an

intelligence

The information in the DNA of living

organisms came from the mind of God

The “information problem” is seldom

discussed, but shows that evolution is

impossible


Irreducible Complexity:Take away one part and it doesn’t work

A mousetrap has:

• Platform / Base

• Spring

• Hammer

• Catch

• Holding Bar

Take one part away

and it will no longer

function as a

mousetrap!


Nothing Works

Until

Everything Works!

The problem with evolution is:



Thermodynamics


Generation

Fossil Record

Hydrogen GasPeople

1B

2B

3B

?


The Fossil Record

The fossil record shows that evolution has

not taken place:

“Abrupt appearance” is always seen –

the oldest fossils are already fully formed

Many complex creatures are found in so-called

“Cambrian” rocks (near the oldest), without a

trace of any ancestors


Fossils very rare

Fossils relatively abundant

The Cambrian Explosion


Trilobite Swimming on Bottom of Shallow Sea

From “The Amazing Story of Creation”, Gish, Page 105


Trilobite Fossil

Amazing eyes made of

inorganic calcite


From “Fossils”, Niles Eldredge,

Page 177

Archaeopteryx

Fossil

A bird with teeth that

evolutionists claim is an

intermediate between

reptiles and birds


Archaeopteryx Fossil Feather

From “Of Pandas and People”,

Davis and Kenyon, Page 105

A true transitional form between

reptiles and birds would have

“scale-feathers”, half way between

scales and feathers – no such fossil

has ever been found!


Game Summary

You need a field (the universe) to even play the game Something from nothing is impossible

Can’t get to 1B - Thermodynamics The universe is running down

Things naturally tend to mix –not separate and organize themselves

Can’t get to 2B - Spontaneous generation Life comes only from life

First life came from God’s life

Can’t get to 3B - Information Complex things need a blueprint

Can’t get home - Fossil record Life appears at once in the Cambrian (oldest) rocks


Additional Problems for Evolution

The origin of the universe

The fine-tuning of the universe and its

physical constants

The fine-tuning of planet Earth for life

Sexual reproduction

Human consciousness

Human language


Best Evidence For Evolution?

We see “micro-evolution” and natural selection

But creationist says: limited adaptive ability is a design

feature

The fossil record (e.g. Archaeopteryx, whale series)

But fossil record shows abrupt appearance

Lack of ancestors for Cambrian invertebrates

Countless intermediates should be in museums but are not

Imperfections in nature (e.g. the Panda’s thumb)

The Panda is doing fine, thank you!

According to Steven Gould at Harvard...


A Feat of Engineering

Design a robot:

Less than 1/4 inch tall

Can carry heavy loads

Can dig large holes

Can cross any terrain

Can find its own energy sources

Can make other robots like itself

Do this and you would be famous - people

would marvel at your skills!


Engineering Performed

This work has been done

The robot is called an “ant”

We squash them because they are trivial and

unimportant compared to man

Complex things require a designer,

intelligence, and a plan!

Evolution has NO designer, NO intelligence,

NO plan!


The Appeal of Evolution?

Evolution provides a way for people to

justify to themselves that there is no

God, so they can live and do as they

want!


Faith

Evolutionists say:

Evolution = science = truth

Creation = religion = myth

But it takes much more “faith” to believe that energy/matter has transformed itself into people, on it’s own, than it does to believe that there is a creator God!

In actuality:

Evolution != science = myth

Creation = religion + science = truth


The Creation Shows There Must be a God!

Romans 1:20

For since the creation of the world God's

invisible qualities--his eternal power and

divine nature--have been clearly seen,

being understood from what has been made,

so that men are without excuse.


Abrupt appearance

Information

First life

Thermodynamics

Language

Imperfections

Fossil order

Micro-evolution

The Evidence is Overwhelming!


Evolution says I came from an ape!

But the Bible says I am formed in

the image of God!

creation - the evidence says yes!njbiblescience.org/presentations/creation - the evidence says...

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